US Denies Predicting Buhari As Winner Of 2019 Presidential Election

Reports that President Muhammadu Buhari victory in the forthcoming presidential election was predicted by United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has been denied by the body.

An earlier report said the organisation projected that Buhari is likely to emerge victorious in the 2019 elections.

But the institute says the report, which also analysed the chances of violence marring the elections, was based on its interactions with Nigerians from different sectors.

Reacting in a statement on its website, the institute said it never makes predictions about election outcomes.

The organisation said its only interest in elections is to help avoid violence and not on the outcome.

“USIP never makes predictions about election outcomes and has not done so in this case. The Institute’s work on elections is confined to helping nations avoid electoral violence,” the statement read in part.

“This study is based on interviews across the country with more than 200 Nigerian respondents – election administrators, political party representatives, security officials, civil society and youth groups, the media, traditional and religious leaders, prominent community figures, business people, academics and others.

“The USIP report noted that, in the interviews, ‘some respondents’ discussed their own views of Nigerian public perceptions about an election outcome. A Nigerian news account mis-reported this passage as a USIP prediction of the outcome, and other Nigerian news organisations repeated the error.

“As USIP is a strictly nonpartisan institution, its work on elections focuses entirely on preventing violence.”